Miami Heat's LeBron James, center, slides through Charlotte Bobcats players Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14), Josh McRoberts (11) and Al Jefferson (25) for two points during the first half of an NBA basketball game ... more

Photo: J Pat Carter

LeBron scores career-high 61

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Miami

Best player. Best game of his career.

LeBron James clearly isn't ready to concede his MVP award to anyone yet.

Dazzling from inside and out, James put on the best scoring show of his NBA life on Monday night, pouring in 61 points — a career high and a franchise record — as the Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats 124-107. It was the eighth straight win for the two-time defending champions, who are starting to roll as the playoffs get near.

James made 22 of 33 shots from the field, including his first eight 3-point attempts, on the way to his historic night.

"The man above has given me some unbelievable abilities to play the game of basketball," James said. "I just try to take advantage of it every night. I got the trust of my teammates and my coaching staff to go in there and let it go."

His career best had been 56 points, on March 20, 2005, for Cleveland against Toronto. Glen Rice scored 56 to set the Heat record on April 15, 1995, against Orlando.

James had 24 points at halftime, then added 25 in the third quarter. The record-breaker came with 5:46 left, when James spun through three defenders for a layup that fell as he tumbled to the court.

"There was an efficiency to what he was doing," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "The rim looked like an ocean for him."

Spoelstra walked into his postgame news conference with a confession: He nearly took James out after the third quarter.

Nets 96, Bulls 80:Jason Collins played the final minutes of a winning home debut with Brooklyn. More than a week after returning to the NBA as the league's first openly gay player, Collins checked in to a standing ovation with 2:41 remaining, committed a foul just five seconds later and missed his only shot as the Nets won their third straight. The Nets plan to sign Collins to a second 10-day contract, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. Collins signed his original deal on Feb. 23, and it expires Tuesday. The Nets then will re-sign him for another 10 days on Wednesday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plans haven't been made public. After that, the Nets would have to sign him for the rest of the season if they wanted to keep him. Deron Williams scored 20 points and Joe Johnson had 19 for the Nets. Glens Falls native Jimmer Fredette played three minutes in his second game since joining the Bulls on Sunday and scored two points, hitting one of the two shots he attempted.

Pistons 96, Knicks 85:Andre Drummond had 17 points and a career-high 26 rebounds for Detroit, which had lost seven of eight. New York has dropped seven straight games and 13 of 15. Carmelo Anthony scored 10 of his 28 points in a first quarter in which the Knicks led by as many as 14 and were ahead by eight when it ended. The Pistons outscored New York by three in the second quarter, 30-20 in the third and started the fourth with eight unanswered points.

Timberwolves 132, Nuggets 128: Kevin Love had 33 points and 19 rebounds for his NBA-best 50th double-double this season for Minnesota. Love topped 30 points for the 11th time in his past 14 starts.

Note: Hall of Fame centerKareem Abdul-Jabbar says he would be interested in returning in some capacity to the Milwaukee Bucks, the franchise that drafted him first overall in 1969. Bucks owner Herb Kohl said in December he was looking to add to the ownership group in hopes of building a new arena and cementing the team's long-term future in Milwaukee. Abdul-Jabbar said that no one had approached him, though he would "definitely offer" his services if he got a call.